Andrew Matthews comments

No.1 - The Milkman - in the UK they would come by in electric carts (many years before the current fad) - called milk floats. I still remember the whine of the motor, accompanied by the clinking of the bottles. Of course I also remember finding the birds had pecked through the foil top to get at the cream at the top of the bottle.

I love them as well. But since I have pretty much seen them all, I can now use the commercial breaks for what they were originally intended - getting some more chili, another beer and the all-important bathroom break.

@Yubaru

Here is the picture from a previous JT article regarding this album.

That's a courtesan costume? Wow - and I though bikini's were a relatively modern invention.

I've read the book and seen the Swedish film. I loved the book and thought that the film was average. It did tell the story, but I don't think the story adapts to film that well.

Yes - I agree - the books work out better in the head, than in either film.

But given the choice - I go with the Swedish version of the movie than the American.

I did suggest reading the books rather than watching the movie. Frankly, if you watch a movie, you are watching through the looking glass of another person.

It's like listening to the music rather than reading the musical notation. Few can read the musical notation, but we can all read the book.

@ Japanese government must apply the law of reciprocity with american companies.

I absolutely agree -

@ The Japanese receive all these gaijins with open arms and look what we receive in exchange.

As long as you treat them the same as Japanese and NOT gaijins.

OK - IMHO - the Swedish version is FAR superior. I would recommend people watch all the Swedish versions first (You could always read the books first - there are English versions, but I am not sure at this point about Japanese versions).

At least the director of the Swedish movie agrees with me (OK - I agree with him).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/nov/09/girl-dragon-tattoo-american-remake

Of course - if the people wearing them are on the other side of each other - it looks they they are not talking.

For some reason the theme music from Hawaii 5-0 keeps running through my head.

Ummm... all explosives are heat generating. It's the speed at which they generate heat. Of course technically rust is an incredibly SLOW explosion... :-)

If only they sold liquors. A dash of benedictine or a shot of brandy to hide the taste of their coffee... :-)

Hey - As a kid I would have given anything (OK - not absolutely everything - but a LOT) for even obligatory chocolate. The idea that for once, the girl would actually initiate an approach? Wow... OK - so more a fantasy than reality, but at least I wouldn't have spent weeks worrying only to be rejected :-)

@Nicky Washida

I always used to ride when I was younger so I never drank when I went out, but moving to London and taking the train everywhere changed that.

Yes - my downfall was almost the tube when I move to London. Well, that and the winter. I always rode a motorcycle, even when I went to work in London and live 13 miles away from work. But when the black ice hit I had to take the tube. People can drive a car drunk, but if you can't get a motorcycle off the stand and start it up, you are too drunk to ride (so I am told).

As with Landsberg-san I started to hate the mornings after. But the main kicker was waking up oner morning and seeing my motorcycle parked in the driveway, and remembering I had been drinking in a pub that was a police hangout doing yards of ale but not remember riding home. It seems most of the police were biker cops and liked my bike, so they got a police car to drive me home and another cop rode the bike. There was an extra 100 miles on it though, and I only live 2 miles from the pub.

I am sure he can claim he is sane on the basis that only an insane man would have left his clothes on to swim across the moat.

Isn't it a sign of growing old when the pilots seem so young?....

@Hategobo - Lawrence Weston... I'll be staying visiting the UK and staying near Bedminster next month - I'll say Hi! for you. But I probably won't watch The Artist there. Somebody would probably think that due to my accent I'm an American and try and sell me special earphones to listen to it in 3D...

Strange how society's mores can play a part. In the UK, suicide is considered "bad form" so the authorities will bend over backwards to say it is not suicide - "The deceased was depressed and told people he was going to hang himself. Was found in a locked room with the key in his pocket, hanging from a rafter by a kicked over chair. However no suicide note was found, so it's death by misadventure".

In Japan...

@Hategobo - Yeah _ I'm from Bristol, I am sorry to say you might be able to insert almost any city in the headline... But I refuse to back down on my comment about the shell-suits....

I am embarrassed these shell-suited oxygen thieves share the same nationality as me

I have to agree at this point (although I would like to believe that not all Liverpudlians are morons - the same cannot be said of the ones wearing shell-suits).

On the plus side, at least we know that Liverpool will never be bereft of village idiots.

A little context here: He also said:

"... One group isn’t entitled to take something from somebody else. And the basic problem here is, there’s a lot of good intention to help poor people, but guess who gets the entitlements in Washington? The big guys, the rich people, they get the entitlements, the military-industrial complex, the banking system. Those are the entitlements we should be dealing with.”

You can apply it to yourself, and shuffle to the side you feel you should be on. But please go and listen to the whole thing.

Guerin predicts the G-string’s share of the market will crumble further.

I love people who make predictions on what they want to happen.

In my humble opinion, as long as there are men who like women to wear them, there will be women who will want to wear them. (And yes, as long as there are women who like women to etc etc).

Hardly a recommendation for the company. You fire the person who told you of the illegality occurring, and replaced him with one of the people doing it.

If this is the way they treat their shareholders, how do they regard their customers?

My wife will love this - although she tells me that as a water dragon / Capricorn, she does not believe in any form of astrology.

Please sign up here to take part in our research....

There must be some sort of standardized butt measurement... Incredible when you come to think about it.

But I am sorry, I am not cutting 4 inches off of anything to fit into anyone's standard measurement (OK - you will had to have watched the movie to know what I mean - and if this is deleted - the moderators have watched the movie :-) )

The question is, will it detect the gold hidden up there?

Oh great. Up to now I have only had to remove my belt and shoes when going through security...

3 turn-arounds in the last 30 seconds of the game! My wife lived in San Francisco during the 1982 when the 49'ers made "The Catch" touchdown. She said this game was as exciting, and was jumping around so much she knocked me off the sofa and our dog hid under the table.

Going to be a lot of hangovers in San Francisco this morning.

You are more likely to find English-listeners amongst the Japanese than Japanese-Listeners amongst the English. In England it is still the norm not to learn another language, but to speak louder in English if the listener seems unable to understand you. :-)

I have been to similar in Germany - it can be funny (and who said the Germans have no sense of humor?)

(eg "Where is Mike?" A) "At the library" B) "In the library" etc etc

Mike-san was not at/in the library at all. He was apparently at the wrong place but in the right time (Note: see propositions). I'm English-born and would cheerfully strangle the person who wrote this.

In the UK - there is so much history it spills over into everyday life. I see Japan the same. As an island nation, the history must pile up with nowhere to go. Shrines must seem to act as a sort of spiritual battery.

and the English sections are painful to read.

Is there a way for English speaking people to offer help (I will not call it tuition - I speak it - I don't know how to teach it) online for free. Seems a shame to see a system that is apparently flawed ruin a persons future.